In the aftermath of the trust vote in the Indian Parliament on Tuesday, when members of the Lok Sabha went ballistic on all issues except the one that needed to be debated — the Indo-US nuclear deal — three key points have emerged from the shambles that was the vote that proved to be a ratification of the 123 Agreement.
The most evident of the points in play was the naked avarice of the elected deputies, be it ambition or money, secondly, the insular imposition of regional players and politics and, finally, the impact of the agreement itself on the country — whether it amounts to accepting American hegemony or it has wider ramifications on the nation’s energy issues.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance staked its all on a single throw of the nuclear dice and got the numbers it needed to stay in power for the remaining nine months of its five-year tenure. But at what cost?
The no-holds-barred tactics employed by the UPA vote managers appear to have paid off. What also seems to have helped the government was the impression that the opposition challenge was really not firm, with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance unwilling to go for the jugular with a definite stand on the deal.
The shoddy display in the house and the shenanigans of the past few days preceding the no-confidence motion are unfortunately indications of the times we live in — where personal and party’s gains outweigh national considerations.
Gone are the days when issues led to lively debates in the Parliament. The days of the socialist stormy petrel Ram Manohar Lohia taking on the doyen of Indian politics and first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the lively debates that sprung on issues that shaped India.
And it is this right to express one’s opinions and dissent that makes India such a vibrant democracy. But on Tuesday, what the world saw was a mockery of the parliamentary system. Politicking and lure of the lucre were predominant.
On Tuesday, the dynamics of the northern belt was in full sway. The Yadavs — Lalu Prasad from Bihar and Mulayam Singh from Uttar Pradesh (UP) — and Dalit-leader Mayawati also from UP were the three players in power play. It was Lalu Prasad, however, who not only had the Indians in stitches with his inimitable asides but also had the opposition in knots with his constant thrusts. The only person confident throughout the run-up to the tight confidence vote was Lalu Prasad. Knowing fully well that the elections are just months away, he was just one of the many using the house floor to sell himself and his party to the people. But he also revealed his ambitions — to become the prime minister. “Why can’t a minority become prime minister? Even I can become the premier, or Mulayam or any Muslim,” he thundered during his speech in the house. Was it just a soundbite or aspiration?
But it is this quest for power that is driving these regional politicians on the singular path of keeping their base happy. Similar is the case of Mulayam, who switched allegiance to the Congress not only to spite Mayawati, but also to garner political weightage.
For the next big battle for him will once again be UP, where his Samajwadi Party and the Congress need each other if they hope to quell the rising Mayawati tide.
Not to be outdone, the BSP too showed that their prime interest was Mayawati and not India. On Tuesday, Brajesh Pathak, BSP’s deputy leader in the house, used the opportunity not to speak about the deal but about the other major “threat.” The “threat” to his leader Mayawati if the party did not go along with the UPA in the vote.
Flashing papers that were purportedly issued by Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) personnel that highlighted this “threat”, Phatak said that pressure was being brought on them to toe the government line. The irony was not the pressure, but the place and timing of its revelation. What seems to follow from the dramatic statement is that the BSP was trying to bring about its own pressure on the government to clear its leader.
The BJP too took a long-term view with the life of this government likely to be extended by another nine months before the inevitable general elections, by using the opportunity not to argue the major sticking points in the 123 Agreement but to project itself as the party with clout for the next elections.
With the battleground being UP for both BJP and Mayawati, the fact that BJP led this NDA drive was double-edged. First, they ensured that Mayawati was on board with them and in a secondary role in the confidence vote — stopping the smaller parties from coalescing under Mayawati. And secondly, they settled scores with the left parties that had left them in the lurch on more than one occasion.
That Congress too showed reckless zeal in pursuing the deal in the realm of foreign policy. It was their blatant lack of transparency and their efforts to keep even their allies in the dark that led to the breakup of the UPA, and the eventual money circus.
The unabashed horse-trading and the innocuous debate preceding the vote came about only when Premier Manmohan Singh decided to go ahead with the civil nuclear deal on the sidelines of the G-8 summit in Japan, bringing about a major shift in the country’s foreign policy.
The merits and demerits of the deal are still being bandied about. And it has made India a nation divided. Opponents are of the view that the deal impinges on the nation’s independent decision-making and policy powers. They also say that certain clauses even threaten national sovereignty.
Supporters of the deal say it is in the national interest with the advantages balancing out any disadvantages. They see the deal primarily as an accord to boost energy security and gain access to nuclear and high technology. The impact on the country’s energy needs, they feel, would be immense, especially with oil prices touching $140 and above. Hamstrung by the nonavailability of uranium and lack of access to international technology, generation capacity is still low. The deal, they claim, would help in solving the energy crunch thus making its potential impact on the country’s long-term development far-reaching.
However, instead of a full-throttle debate on these contentious issues relating to the nuclear deal, what the hallowed house witnessed was plain cronyism and pandering to the demands of politicians and vested interests.
The only exception, perhaps, was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The young leader came out of his mother’s shadow and was brave enough to state that this deal would bring about a similar impact that the IT revolution brought for India.
“When the IT revolution began in the 1980s, nobody believed that it would transcend to the masses. But today India is a major player in IT and every village is connected. This deal, too, would have a major energy impact on our nation,” Rahul said to thundering applause. Pity, all of it came from Congress benches.
— L. Ramnarayan is associate editor at Arab News
